Chapter Eleven
"Trust and Hope"
When you feel so close to some resolve
And you say the things that you're standing for
Don't let your courage get dissolved
Cause it's then that the fear grows
Just give me the word and I'll be there for you
"Falling On" by Finger Eleven
Cody sighed in utter contentment from where he lay in a patch of grass, basking in the warmth of the sun's rays. The heat and fresh mountain air were making him drowsy and he felt himself start to drift off into a light sleep. He was awakened after a brief nap as Lily snuggled up against him and Cody moved his right arm to accommodate her presence.
"Beautiful day," Lily breathed as she relaxed against his side.
"You can say that again," Cody agreed, looking up into the clear blue sky that almost had a mesmerizing quality. The only thing that could possibly make this day better was if the rest of the human race was able to share in the experience, but that was now impossible. There was almost no one left alive on the planet…
"You did everything you could Cody," Lily said, guessing where his thoughts were heading. She knew him too well, especially after having been at his side for the better part of two years in the wake of Matthew's death as he took the fight to the Demons.
"I know…just sometimes I wish I could have done more," he said sadly, thinking of all the battles he had fought and the futility of them all. The nations of the world had been defeated and the human race virtually snuffed out of existence. Earth was now home to the demonic tide that had consumed it. Cody had thought that defeating Chiam would somehow end the suffering of his fellow humans, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Despair quickly replaced hope and everything fell apart from there…
The golden light erupted outward into existence in all directions. Chiam was forced to shield himself against Cody's incredible raw power which simultaneously dissolved the Champion's attack before it reached Lily. Blindingly bright light had then wrapped around Cody, conforming to his body before it began to manifest itself as a physical shape.
Cody was far too enraged to notice what was happening to him, but Lily would later fill him in on the details. Just as the Champions were encased in a suit of black as night armor, a similar suit of armor now appeared around Cody's body covering him from neck to toe. The plates of armor were the color of the sun, a bright gold that reflected the light of his aura and projected an air of dangerous power thanks to the solid black coloring that highlighted the edges and joints.
With shield in hand, Excalibur reformed itself in the palm of Cody's sword hand and the image was complete. Cody Martin was the Truth Seeker, the last of the Children of Light and sole remaining Champion of the Earth Realm. Chiam gaped at the sight of him, he'd battled light brats before on other worlds, but he'd never seen one of them get this powerful before. A small twinge of fear entered his consciousness…
Cody exploded into action, his aura seeming to lag behind for a moment as he raced forward with mind numbing speed, closing the gap between himself and Chiam in a split second. Excalibur flashed wickedly as he went all out on the Champion of Chaos, raining hammer blow after hammer blow down upon Justice's edge, each impact resounding with a thunderous boom and forcing him to give ground. Chiam disengaged and then tried to go on the offensive, but Cody wasn't having any of it. The younger warrior dismissed his shield, placed both hands on Excalibur's hilt and swung it two handed with all the strength he could muster. Chiam barely dodged out of the way as Excalibur smashed through Justice, cleaving the obsidian sword in two.
"I don't believe this!" Chiam hissed, launching himself backward into the air and gathering negative energy into his hands as he raised them over his head as if trying to call to the heavens for help. Cody stood his ground and watched on with an odd feeling of detachment, momentarily forgetting his anger over Chiam's slaying of Matthew. The Champion of Chaos launched his attack, the lance of reddish pink negative energy crackled as it passed through the air headed straight down at the Child of Light who dared to defy him so effectively.
"Believe," Cody whispered, his voice lacking in emotion, before swinging his arms in front of him and returning fire with a lance of golden light even bigger than Chiam's attack. As he put everything he had into the counter attack, Cody screamed in a sudden release of pent up fury. The golden light consumed the red energy as though it wasn't even there and washed over Chiam.
The Champion screamed in pain as he tumbled from the air and landed on his back. Cody slowly approached his fallen adversary who was struggling to get to his feet. Sinister wisps of grey smoke rose from Chiam's armor, clear evidence of Cody's counter-attack and in other places blood flowed freely from where the light had ripped into flesh.
Cody reached down with his free hand and grabbed Chiam by the top of his breastplate, hauling the wounded Champion to his feet. He stared into the brown eyes of the man who had personally robbed Zachary and Matthew of their lives and might as well have killed Carey and Kurt himself for the part he'd played in the invasion, passing judgment on Chiam's soul.
"Even if it takes me the rest of my life, I will hunt the rest of your kind down without mercy until I draw my last breath," Cody spat at the man, his body starting to shake uncontrollably. Chiam's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief as Cody sunk Excalibur into his midsection and forced it upward.
"Don't lose yourself to bloodlust brother, end this now," Zack's voice cautioned him. Cody's surprise, more than anything else, was what broke the spell over him as he looked around for his twin hoping to find him standing nearby safe and sound now that his killer had been slain. The golden light rapidly faded along with his armor.
Cody suddenly sat up, startling Lily in the process as he became aware of an encroaching presence. It was both familiar and alien at the same time. After Chiam had fallen by Cody's hand, the remaining Champions of Chaos deigned to leave him alone. His supernatural senses were screaming a warning at him, making it feel as though the air around him had suddenly condensed. This was accompanied by a powerful sense of dread and a bad aftertaste left behind on his tongue.
"Cody? What's going on?" Lily asked as she sat up as well, correctly assuming that he had sensed some kind of impending danger. He pressed a finger against his lips in a gesture that told her to remain silent.
"There's a Champion here," Cody whispered, scanning all around him looking for the source of the darkness that he was feeling. The bright and sunny day somehow seemed to darken ominously even though nothing had actually happened to the weather.
After a moment Cody spotted wisps of black smoke raising from the ground, slowly creeping towards him from down the hill, growing taller the closer it came. His perception of the darkness seemed to increase with burning intensity and he was certain that this was the source. He quickly got to his feet, placing himself between Lily and the smoke cloud, already harnessing the flow of light and redirecting it inside of his body to prepare it for combat.
Before Cody could begin to doubt whether or not he would be able to defeat this Champion without losing control of himself and going berserk again, a tall handsome young man dressed casually in a loose fitting black shirt and navy blue jeans casually strode out of the dark cloud almost anti-climatically. Tendrils of smoke seemed to linger around him, hugging his arms and legs lovingly before succumbing to the pull of the entire mass as it dispersed and faded away. The newcomer's short white blond hair caught the light, stunning Cody with its brightness compared against the rest of his dark attire and he turned those incredible piercing green eyes to meet the Truth Seeker's shocked gaze.
"Hello Cody Martin!" The newcomer greeted, only a few steps away from seeming cheerful. His power immediately dropped off to a trickle as he held up empty hands, causing Cody to involuntarily relax a little bit at the lengths to which this Champion was taking to appear as non-threatening as possible. Then it clicked…
"Jarran?" The young man nodded, his lips breaking into a small smile at the recognition. Cody marveled at how different Jarran looked, remembering that he had been shorter and the muscles in his arms had not been defined at all like they were now when they last saw each other. It seemed that the last two years had been very generous to him. Cody wondered if he looked any different to the young man they had pulled out of a debris pile back in Boston long ago.
"It's good to see you again," Jarran said, taking a couple of steps towards them, but hesitating when he saw Cody tense up. He hadn't let go of the light just yet. Regardless of their history together, two years was a lot of time to change a person and suspicion was foremost among Cody's emotions.
"Why are you here?" Cody asked a little more scathingly than he intended. With a heavy sigh, Jarran lowered his hands and stuck them in his pockets.
"I didn't come here to fight, hurt you in any way or threaten you," Jarran said softly, trying to keep the situation from exploding and then in a more commanding tone, "I came to talk."
"About what?"
"Events are coming to a head Cody and I think you're the only one who can help me."
"I thought you were the one who owed me a favor!"
"So I do, but I'd rather not talk about this outside," Jarran warned him, glancing around at the trees that surrounded the cabin as if something or someone would come leaping out at them at any moment. He was edgy, Cody realized, suddenly aware that whatever it was Jarran wanted to tell him, it was important enough for him to stick his neck out. Cody let his power drop away, more interested to hear what the young Champion had to say now than he had been before learning of the personal risk involved.
The two young men settled around the dining table inside the cabin Cody and Lily had taken residence in six months ago, venturing into the Appalachian Mountains looking for a safe haven from the Demon hordes since there was nothing left to fight for. Lily exchanged a few pleasant comments with Jarran as she went about filling a cup of water for him, not knowing what the people of his Realm drank and then started fixing some food for them all. She was the perfect hostess, Cody marveled for a brief moment before giving Jarran a questioning look. The young Champion wrung his hands and sighed, apparently not sure where to start.
"Something is wrong with this world. We're not sure what it is exactly…" Jarran finally started, looking at Cody to gauge his reaction. To the Child of Light, there was obviously something wrong with his world, the Demons had invaded it after all, but Cody suspected there was more to it than that.
"What do you mean?"
"It's like…" Jarran paused, looking up at the ceiling for a moment searching for the right words, "It's like an echo, only it's not."
"That doesn't make any sense." Cody pointed out, arching his eyebrow in skepticism.
"It's as if there is another Earth out there and as time progresses forward, we've been feeling that something is wrong with the Earth that we occupy. As the presence of this other world grows stronger, it feels like this one is decaying, as though it has run its course."
"Another Earth? Like a parallel universe?"
"Not exactly," Jarran said slowly, pausing a second before continuing, "It feels like the same exact Realm except that this other Earth is whole and intact, untouched by my Realm."
"How is that possible?" Cody blurted, a small glimmer of hope igniting inside of him. Perhaps he and Lily could escape to this other Earth and everything would be alright again.
"I have no idea, I was hoping you'd have a theory."
"Why me?"
"Because you're from Boston aren't you?"
"That's where this 'feeling' is?"
"Yes and it's strongest at this one building in particular. A hotel of some sort in the old downtown area."
"The Tipton Hotel?" Cody asked dubiously. There was no way…
"That's it!" Jarran snapped his fingers, nodding in recognition of the name he'd seen on the building while investigating the area a few days prior.
"I used to live there, before the invasion."
"Is there anything there, umm, unusual?" Cody frowned, not sure how to answer the question.
"What exactly do you mean by 'unusual'?"
"I think were dealing with time here, something that could alter events in the space time continuum?"
"Err… I don't know of anything like…" Cody trailed off as he remembered something from years ago. Arwin, the Tipton's eccentric hotel engineer, had been working on creating a machine that could send a person through time. Nothing had ever come of it of course; Cody had noticed his flawed mathematical calculations in addition to believing that the whole idea was improbable at the time. But, what if…?
"Cody?"
"There is something there," Cody said, looking up at Jarran with hope burning brightly in his eyes for the first time in years.
After explaining his cryptic response, Jarran sat back in his chair and appeared to be thinking something over. Curiosity burned inside Cody and he looked over to see what Lily was doing to take his mind off whatever it was the young Champion was thinking about. She was busy preparing an early evening meal for the three of them, trying to spice up some of their supply of dry and canned food. Finally, when he could stand it no longer, Cody looked back at Jarran and opened his mouth to ask a question.
"That's it!" Jarran stated.
"What?"
"This timeline isn't supposed to exist. We're picking up the echo of the real timeline the closer we get to the event horizon."
"Say what?"
"Here look," Jarran said, glancing around and spotting a notebook on the counter behind him, "May I?" Cody nodded and the young Champion leaned over to retrieve it, flipped it to a blank page and pulled the pen out of the binding. He drew a straight line all the way across, then about a third of the way from the left drew a line downward branching off at an angle eventually connecting to another straight line that ran the remaining two thirds of the page.
"Here is were Chaos invaded Earth," Jarran said, pointing where the two lines diverged, "This top line is the timeline where the Children of Light repulsed the invasion. The bottom line is the timeline we're living in where, for whatever reason, Chaos was not repulsed and Earth was conquered."
"Ok, I'm following you," Cody said as Jarran looked up at him briefly.
"And here," he drew a vertical line that bisected both of the horizontal lines almost on the right edge of the page, "Is where the flow of time is right now."
"What happens when it goes off the page?" Lily asked, coming around and looking over Cody's shoulder.
"The timeline where Earth is undamaged continues on to another page, it is growing so strong that it is almost overwhelming this timeline."
"What about us?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing what?"
"I mean that this timeline ends, right here," Jarran said thumbing the edge of the page, "Everything will cease to exist."
"Maybe it's better if it does… Our Earth is lost, let that other Earth live in peace." Jarran was shaking his head softly.
"No Cody, you don't get it. We're hearing the echo because the timelines are drawing close together. There is something that has to happen soon or both timelines will be obliterated, not just ours. The other Earth is in extreme danger…"
"What has to happen?"
"You have to go back and stop the invasion."
"You don't seriously believe that someone could travel through time and undo all the damage do you?"
"You've already done it, you just have to do it again don't you get it?"
"Paradox," Cody muttered, then, "I'm still having trouble believing that this is actually possible."
"Time travel as you call it is real enough, it's just that Realm Lords usually protect their worlds and prohibit such things from happening in the first place. But in your case…I think this is the solution to all of our problems."
"Our problems?"
"Your family is dead, your people wiped out and your world is in the hands of my Realm. Don't you wish that you could go back and stop the invasion from ever happening?"
"Yes, of course. All the time, but that still doesn't explain what your problem is…"
"I'm sure this won't surprise you, but Demon Lord Ashani has ordered your execution and after you are dead, he will issue one more execution order…"
"Who?"
"Mine."
"Why does he want to kill you?" Cody wondered, unable to understand why the Demon Lord would wish to end the life of one of his Champions.
"You see Cody, once you die, I will cease being an asset to my father and become a liability." All thoughts about time travel came to a screeching halt. An icy chill raced along his spine and goose bumps broke out of his flesh. He was sitting no more than three feet away from the son of the man who was responsible for ordering the invasion of Earth. Cody felt a small spark of anger inside of him, as though he wanted to physically hurt Ashani's son for everything that his father had done, but knew that such a thing was wrong. Cody could see that Jarran was not a blood thirsty and power hungry tyrant like his father. If anything Jarran was more like Cody, pained by the invasion and possessing the power to do something about it, but unable to undo all the damage that had been done.
"The whole reason I exist is to carry on the bloodline should you kill him. He doesn't want me turning against him at some point in the future when I get stronger." Jarran finally said after Cody forced himself to relax, though he was still on edge a little.
"I'm not strong enough to kill him…" Cody shook his head, remembering how terrifyingly powerful Ashani was when he fought Taschen two years ago in Boston.
"Yes you are, he felt your true power when you killed Chiam. He knows that you'll destroy yourself by using it against him, but he also knows that the Children are noble enough to make such a sacrifice. Once Pandora finds you, she will carry out his orders and kill you."
"Pandora once told me that you were like a son to her. That's why she has conveniently failed to find me after all this time isn't it?"
"Yes. She cannot disobey my father's orders, but as long as she can't find you she can't kill you and I stay alive. Pandora knows that I know all of this and both of us agree that this arrangement cannot last indefinitely. My father may send another Champion after you, one without strong ties to me or he might even come after you himself."
"So why are you telling me all of this?"
"Because Pandora and I are looking for a way to keep me alive."
"Which is?"
"You Cody…you're the key to all of this. If you stop my father, your world is safe and I get to go on living."
Hours passed and after having Jarran go over the entire scenario with Cody multiple times, the Child of Light finally accepted everything he had been told. They all ate the dinner Lily had made and then started planning the trip back to Boston.
Jarran could go there right away he'd explained, using what the Children of Darkness called 'Shadow Step' which is how they could appear anywhere in the world at anytime, but Cody and Lily would have to use more conventional means. Jarran explained that he could bring passengers along in his wake, but he didn't think it wise to try it with someone who had the opposite cosmic power. Cody wasn't sure if traveling with the light was possible like Jarran could with the darkness and didn't know how to do it even if it was.
As night arrived, the plan was finalized. The three of them would travel together to Boston the next day and risk everything on this last hope to save Earth before the timelines were obliterated. Jarran soon left, thanking them for dinner and promising to be back in the morning. After cleaning up Lily asked if Cody needed anything, but he just told her that he wanted to think things over. He found himself thinking about his slain family just as much as he was about their plans for tomorrow. Cody wanted to see them so badly… This had to work, it just had to!
Cody awoke slowly in his chair, he must have fallen asleep at the table while thinking about everything Jarran had told him. There was a pen in his hand and some writing on the open page of the map atlas he had been looking at. He stared at the writing dumbly for a moment, recognizing his own handwriting but not remembering ever having penned the words glaring back at him.
'Remember, big brother is watching'
A/N: …you can calm down now. I know you're angry being kept waiting, but that is the nature of cliffhangers as they say. Cody is a bit of a berserker it seems and we got to see the epic finish of his fight with Chiam in full 'Badass Cody Mode'. I personally love it when Cody picks him up by the breastplate, threatens the other Champions like Chiam with death, spits in his face and then guts him. Totally out of regular Cody's character, but no problem for pissed off berserk mode.
Now our hero is returning to Boston with an unlikely ally to set everything right or die trying. Darkness looms on the horizon and there is no doubt that someone will be waiting there to stop them. Time is running out for Cody and Lily…will they make it in time? What will happen to them when they get to the city? Just how fragile is Jarran's loyalty to his father?
Find out all this and more in Chapter Twelve: Into The Fire
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